Spaceflight Mechanisms Lead: Actuators & Deployments

Kindredventures; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 161,000 - 221,000; Full time

Job summary

Inversion is seeking a Staff Mechanisms Engineer to own cradle-to-grave development of mission-critical mechanisms for a high-performance reentry vehicle. You will drive mechanical system architecture and collaborate with structures, avionics, propulsion, TPS, and GNC to ensure seamless integration of assemblies into next-generation vehicles.

You will rotate between high-level system design, detailed CAD work, first-principles analysis, hardware testing, and cross-functional collaboration as a

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering or equivalent.
• 8+ years designing, analyzing, and testing mechanisms for aerospace/defense.
• Strong mechanical design skills with CAD proficiency.
• Experience with structural and thermal analysis (FEA).
• Ability to work in harsh environments and extreme conditions.
• Proven capability to create engineering drawings with GD&T.
• Excellent verbal and written communication; fast-paced teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop flight-critical mechanisms from concept through qualification.
• Perform structural and thermal analysis to validate designs for hypersonic environments.
• Plan and execute test campaigns including environmental qualification and life cycle testing.
• Create detailed engineering drawings, assembly procedures, ICDs, and specs.
• Collaborate with manufacturing to build, troubleshoot, and iterate hardware.
• Lead design reviews and present trade studies for component selection.
• Coordinate with suppliers for custom components and ensure schedule adherence.
• Support vehicle integration and assist during assembly, test, and launch ops.

Skills

Mechanical design

3D CAD

Cross-functional collaboration

Verbal & written communication

Hands-on hardware testing

Design for harsh environments

Fast-paced environment

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

NX

CATIA

SolidWorks

ANSYS

Abaqus

NASTRAN

Job description

Inversion is seeking a Staff Mechanisms Engineer to own cradle-to-grave development of mission-critical mechanisms for a high-performance reentry vehicle. You will drive mechanical system architecture and collaborate with structures, avionics, propulsion, TPS, and GNC to ensure seamless integration of assemblies into next-generation vehicles.

You will rotate between high-level system design, detailed CAD work, first-principles analysis, hardware testing, and cross-functional collaboration as a